Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! Sam and I actually woke up before the boys (a Christmas miracle) and so we got to get everything ready for the kids. Owen woke up first, and then we were tired of waiting, so we woke Jackson up. He wasn’t too interested in getting up, even when we reminded him it was Christmas. But once we got him downstairs he was so excited. It was a lot of fun watching them open their gifts. Jackson would open a toy and actually play with it before moving on. And little Owen was just so happy to be ripping the paper and to be a part of everything. We had such a good morning and we were all spoiled with gifts from my family.

The rest of the day was spent at Grandma’s, filled with presents, food, family and Sing Star. It even stopped raining long enough that the boys got to go outside and try out their new scooters. All in all, we had a great time.

Leading up to Christmas, I was a bit depressed. I wanted to be home in Utah with my family, celebrating the way we always do. I think I was worried that Christmas here would be a let down. We didn’t have many decorations, there was no snow, and everything was just so different. And then Christmas morning came. I was so happy watching my boys open their gifts, seeing them so happy. I loved driving down the near empty streets, seeing empty parking lots and clusters of cars at different houses. I loved knowing that inside those houses, families were together and kids were going crazy. I loved sitting around with our family and eating and eating, talking and wasting the day away. I guess in the end, I’m just grateful that even though we had a different Christmas, we still felt the Spirit of Christmas. And that’s what it’s really all about.